In mid-May, London-based Minted Artist Annie Montgomery organized the very first Minted artist meetup in Paris, bringing together one Parisian, as well as a German, French, American, and Italian. “It was absolutely lovely! An evening filled with inspiration and new friends…all set on a rooftop overlooking the rooftops of Paris,” Annie said.

The five artists met at 43 Up on the Roof, dined at Fish La Boissonnerie, and finished the evening at Grom for gelato—”trying to make the night linger for as long as possible,” Annie said. “There were lots of bubbles and cheers involved because we had so much to celebrate, including the end of the big Minted holiday design challenge.”

Despite being from various parts of the world, Annie said the artists had so many things in common, from travels and expatriatism to designer role models and friends and families humming Christmas music in March. “We laughed and nodded and bonded over so many similarities,” she said.

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These are just a handful of the comments from the Pottery Barn Kids and PBteen merchants during the Minted community winners’ announcement call on May 25. An obvious statement—but we’ll say it anyway—the merchants were beyond excited. “This has been an unbelievable partnership,” said Mary Harrington, Vice President, Merchandising, Pottery Barn Kids. “The amount of work that artists put into the entries was amazing. The work is whimsical, creative, and beautiful—everything we like to stand for.”

With more than 7,000 submissions and over 600,000 artist and consumer votes, the Minted X Pottery Barn Kids X PBteen Wall Art Challenge is the largest in Minted’s history. We look forward to seeing the winners’ work in Pottery Barn Kids and PBteen stores in July 2016. View a list of all winners here.

Here, two of the many winners—Megan Wells of Makewells, and Hannah Williams—share the inspirations and stories behind their winning submissions.

Minted: Word on the street is that there’s an interesting story behind your two winning designs—can you share?Megan Wells: A few of the pieces I entered in the Minted X Pottery Barn Kids X PBteen Wall Art Challenge were from my 365 Sketchbook Project. In May 2015, I decided to create in my sketchbook every single day for 365 days. The only rule was I had to fill up a page, and post it to Instagram (@makewells). When I started this project, my main objective was to simply complete it and accomplish my goal. I had started twice before and didn’t last a month.

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Announcing the special prize winners from our Sweet Celebration Quickfire Kids’ Birthday Party Invitation Challenge! It’s time to party! Each year, parents come to Minted to find the perfect invitation celebrate another year in their child’s life. We invited you, our talented Minted community, to design fun and unique invitations that would inspire parents and set the tone for a party that their children will remember for years to come. Congratulations to all the winners and runners-up!

Often described as the “Oscars of the stationery world,” the annual Louie Awards are kind of a big deal—especially for the winners. This year, we’re proud to say that the awards’ parent organization, Greeting Card Association, named two Minted designs as winners: Laura Hankins for “Baby Brewing” and Kristie Kern for “Sparkling Frame.” In addition, Minted artist Paul Berthelot received a nomination for “Coal.”

The Louie Awards display of stationery nominees took center stage at the National Stationery Show in mid-May, inside the entryway of the Javits Center in New York.

“Grateful is the word I’d use to describe the way I feel about winning a Louie,” Kristie said. “Grateful to Minted for the many amazing opportunities, and for choosing one of my designs to enter for consideration — such an honor in itself. I am grateful to all the talented Minties whose beautiful work sets the bar and inspires me to challenge myself. And especially grateful and honored to have won this award alongside the incredible Laura Hankins.”

For our first fun quickfire challenge of the year, we resurrected a community tradition from the Minted days of yore. We held our last Minted T-shirt design challenge in 2012 and we looked to our community to design fresh new t-shirts for us! We gifted these t-shirts to our community at the 2016 National Stationery Show. We’re looking forward to giving out more shirts to our community at some of the upcoming meetups this year!

Congratulations to our special prize winners! These designs will be repurposed as desktop wallpapers.

Employees’ Choice Award
For the design that captures the hearts of our Minted employees and of Minted’s founder, Mariam NaficyArtsy by Stacy Kron

Last week, Minted opened the doors to its first-ever brick-and-mortar store Minted Local, situated in the heart of San Francisco’s Union Square neighborhood. The shop brings the e-commerce company’s products to life and features art, home goods, and stationery from Minted’s community of independent artists and designers. The boutique also emphasizes the work of California-based artists and offers original art and one-of-a-kind items (which we’ve never done before!).

We kicked things off last Thursday with an opening party featuring pressman Matt Kelsey operating an old-school letterpress in the shop window (he made art prints for guests to take home!), delicious bites from Taste Catering, and a flower bar where guests could create their own bouquet (and have it wrapped by yours truly!). During the first week, 50 percent of all sales will benefit Every Mother Counts, a non-profit organization founded by Christy Turlington Burns that is dedicated to making pregnancy and childbirth safer for mothers around the world.

Minted Local also will feature workshops, artists-in-residence programs, styling services, as well as interactive crafts and complimentary mementos to keep children entertained while you’re shopping. Come by to see it in real life and say hello! Minted Local is located at 222 Grant Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94108; we’re open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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Just as Minted has come a long way since the company’s humble beginnings in 2007, NSS has evolved to become more than merely the country’s largest paper-goods trade show. It’s also an annual meeting place for the Minted community to connect, share ideas, and get inspired for the year ahead. Here’s a photo recap of the whirlwind that is NSS—from the vendor floor at Javits Center to the community cocktail party, CMYK Artist brunch, and the conversations in between.

If there’s one thing I love, it’s marbled paper. I can’t help but be drawn to it, no matter the circumstance. Which means I’m obsessed with Minted’s “Modern Marble” wrapping paper by Kelli Hall and have been crafting with it pretty much nonstop. Today, I used it to make this simple notebook-and-diploma garland that’s perfect if you’re hosting a graduation party. Plus, wouldn’t it be fun to ask guests to leave a note for the new grad in the little blank books?

Click through for full instructions …

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Announcing the special prizes from our Minted x West Elm Round 4 Art Challenge! We were excited to partner with West Elm for the fourth year. West Elm is a widely admired brand in the home decor space, known for their contemporary and eclectic style. And most importantly, West Elm shares our passion for discovering and supporting independent artists and makers. Congratulations to all the special prize winners!

West Elm Curator’s Choice Award
For the piece that most captures the attention of the West Elm TeamLina y Challie by Lauren Packard Art

Photography Award
For the most beautiful and unique piece of photographypraia da ursa by Hi Uan Kang Haaga

Urban Award
For the best piece of art inspired by a city or industrial spaceScoring Through by Van Tsao

Click through for more special prize winners…

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It’s so hard to believe that in a few short weeks school will be out for the summer! If you have a special graduate in your house, kick off graduation day with a little fanfare with these printable “Adventure Awaits” pennant flags we created for you. Then add some flair to the graduation paper with a simple DIY paper garland done if their school colors. Get the free printable and paper-garland instructions below.